"General Gordon is currently Deputy Assistant to the President, National Director and Deputy National Security Advisor for Combating Terrorism, the release stated. Previously, he served as Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration[1] and Under Secretary for Nuclear Security at the Department of Energy. Prior to this, General Gordon served as Deputy Director of Central Intelligence, it added.

"'A retired four star general, General Gordon previously served as Special Assistant to the Air Force Chief of Staff for strategic planning. During the George Herbert Walker Bush administration, he was Senior Director for Defense Policy on the National Security Council[2], and has served as Director of Operations at Air Force Space Command,' the White House added. 'General Gordon also worked as a long-range planner at Strategic Air Command and served with the U.S. State Department.'

"'General Gordon has spent his entire career in dedicated service to his country. He is a proven leader of the highest caliber, and I am honored to have him serve as my Homeland Security Advisor,' President George W. Bush said, according to the release."

Homeland Security

President Bush Names His New Homeland Security Advisor: "President Bush has named retired Air Force general and former CIA deputy director John A. Gordon to be his new homeland security advisor, filling the void created when Tom Ridge vacated the West Wing to become secretary of the new Department of Homeland Security.... As homeland security advisor, Gordon will coordinate administration policies with the Department of Homeland Security and other defense and intelligence agencies."

National Nuclear Security Administration

On June 28, 2000, Energy Secretary Bill Richardson "swore in General John A. Gordon as the Department's first Under Secretary for Nuclear Security and Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), set-up by Congress in 1999,[3] amidst acrimonious wrangling with the Department, in the wake of allegations of Chinese espionage in the nuclear laboratories. In Washington on July 12, a ceremony was held to welcome General Gordon, a former senior intelligence officer and nuclear physicist, to his new post. Secretary Richardson expressed confidence that 'the General will strike the right balance: strengthening the science needed to keep our weapons programs strong, while also taking the steps necessary to keep our secrets safe. That is what we must do if we are to restore the full trust of the American people.'

"General Gordon himself did not seek to minimise the difficulties of his task: 'I have a number of friends who wonder why I would ever consider such a job. They seem to think the problems too vexing, the bureaucracy too cumbersome, and the political and public support too weak for a mission that is both declining and too demanding of resources that could be put to other national priorities. … There is reason for scepticism about the probability of success. … But I cannot accept the premise that there is little chance of success… There is support for the mission. It couldn't be any stronger from Congress. … This is an important day…because it signifies to all the members of the National Nuclear Security Administration that this nation, this Administration, this Congress, understands the importance of their mission… There are some 40,000 of us feds and contractors, in Washington and in the field, who work hard every day to strengthen our security. I'm delighted to be one of them again.'"

Central Intelligence Agency

Gordon first served under George J. Tenet, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (1994-1997), as Associate DCI for Military Support; then, beginning in November 1997, Gordon served as Deputy Director of Central Intelligence.[4]

On May 4, 1997, President William Jefferson Clinton appointed General Gordon as Under Secretary for Nuclear Security and Administrator of the National Security Administration at the Department of Energy.[5][6]:
"General Gordon received a B.S. degree from the University of Missouri at Columbia and a M.S. degree from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. He also earned a M.B.A. degree from New Mexico Highlands University in Las Vegas, Nevada."

Department of Energy

According to the biography of Under Secretary of Energy General John A. Gordon:

"General John A. Gordon is the Under Secretary for Nuclear Security and Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), United States Department of Energy.

"Prior to assuming his post at the Department of Energy, General Gordon served as Deputy Director of Central Intelligence, Central Intelligence Agency from October 1997 Until June 2000. He served as the Associate Director of Central Intelligence for Military Support at the Central Intelligence Agency from September 1996 until October 1997.

"The General entered the Air Force through the Reserve Officer Training Corps program in 1968. His early assignments were in research, development and acquisition where he was involved in improving the Minuteman Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) and in developing and acquiring the Peacekeeper ICBM. He was a long-range planner at the Strategic Air Command and served with the U.S. State Department in politico-military affairs. Later, he commanded the 90th Strategic Missile Wing, the only Peacekeeper ICBM unit.

"General Gordon served with the National Security Council in the areas of defense and arms control, including the oversight and completion of the START II negotiations. From May 1989 until January 1993, he served as a special assistant to the president for national security affairs and senior director for defense policy and arms control. The General then became a senior member of the Secretary of Defense's staff and later, the director of operations, Air Force Space Command, responsible for overseeing and developing policy and guidance for the command's operational missions. He also served as a special assistant to the Air Force chief of staff for long-range planning, where he was responsible for restarting and integrating a long-range planning process into the Air Force.

"General Gordon also has an extensive background in science and research. He worked as a physicist for the Air Force Weapons Laboratory at the Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico from June 1970 until June 1974. From June 1974 until April 1976, he worked as a research associate at the Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, N.M. General Gordon earned a Bachelor of Science degree with honors in physics from the University of Missouri at Columbia and a Master of Science degree from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif."

Opening Statement of Senator Carl Levin, Senate Armed Services Committee Nomination Hearing for General John A. Gordon, USAF, to be the Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, Department of Energy, May 24, 2000.